LSE: Public lectures and events

Contributor(s): Professor Michal Feldman | The internet has become a huge computational platform for many heterogeneous, complex markets. These complex markets require the design of fast algorithms that take into account the economic, game theoretic, and computational considerations in a unified way. In this talk, Michal Feldman will discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that arise in this domain, through the lens of approximation.

Contributor(s): Isabel Berwick, Dr Grace Lordan | Dr Grace Lordan discusses hybrid work, workplace equality, and today’s evolving workplace with the host of Financial Times’ Working It podcast, Isabel Berwick at the launch of her new book, The Future-Proof Career.

Contributor(s): Professor Anna Mahtani | In deciding whether to carry out a particular healthcare policy for example, the process for reaching a decision will almost certainly involve a calculation of credences. Drawing from the Philosophy of Language, Anna Mahtani argues that objects of credence are "opaque". It matters then how the relevant object is described or designated.

Contributor(s): Madhumita Murgia | On the surface a British poet, an UberEats courier in Pittsburgh, an Indian doctor, and a Chinese activist in exile have nothing in common. But they are in fact linked by a profound common experience—unexpected encounters with artificial intelligence.

Contributor(s): Professor Christopher Coker | For the late Professor Christopher Coker the answer lay in the rise of a new political entity, the civilizational state. In an episode of LSE iQ which explored China’s position in the world in the coming century, Professor Coker talked about this, the potential for war between the United States and China and what that might look like.   Christopher Coker, was Professor of International Relations at LSE for almost four decades, and co-Director of LSE IDEAS, LSE’s foreign policy think tank. He was a scholar of war and warfare. This episode of LSE iQ is a lightly edited version of our 2019 interview recorded before the COVID pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is dedicated to his memory.     Contributors   Professor Christopher Coker   Research The Rise of the Civilizational State by Christopher Coker   The Improbable War, China, the United States and the Logic of Great Power Conflict by Christopher Coker

Contributor(s): Priyanka Kotamraju, Professor Tarun Khaitan, Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, Professor Alpa Shah | In her latest book, The Incarcerations. Professor Alpa Shah finds a shocking case of cyber warfare - hacked emails, mobile phones and implantation of electronic evidence used to make the arrests of the 16 human rights defenders (the BK-16). Delving into the lives of the BK-16, The Incarcerations shows how the case is a bellwether for the collapse of democracy and why these events matter to all of us.

Contributor(s): Dr Kate Vredenburgh, Professor Geoffrey Hinton | As artificial intelligence (AI) moves beyond the realm of science fiction, it is already having a profound impact on our economies, societies and politics. Our panel examine its transformative power and disruptive potential.

Contributor(s): Gary Stevenson, Rebecca Gowland | Whilst studying at LSE, Gary won a competition run by a bank: "The Trading Game". The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. A place where you could make more money than you'd ever imagined. Where your colleagues are dysfunctional maths geniuses, overfed public schoolboys and borderline psychopaths, yet they start to feel like family. But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? Would you stick, or quit? Even if it meant risking everything? Gary's book is an outrageous, unvarnished, white-knuckle journey to the dark heart of an intoxicating world - from someone who survived the game and then blew it all wide open.

Contributor(s): Professor Judith Butler | Judith Butler confronts the attacks on gender which have become central to right-wing movements today. Global networks have formed "anti-gender ideology movements" dedicated to circulating a fantasy that gender is a dangerous threat to families, local cultures, civilisation – and even "man" himself.

Contributor(s): Humza Yousaf MSP | Humza Yousaf MSP, First Minister of Scotland looks at the relative success of European countries comparable to Scotland, which benefit from an (economic) model grounded in the combination of social solidarity and economic dynamism. With the damage of  Brexit becoming clear, would an independent Scotland in the EU be well-placed to benefit from an economic model and direction different to Westminster’s?

Contributor(s): Professor Myria Georgiou, Dr Matt Mahmoudi, Professor Myria Georgiou, Professor Ayona Datta, Sara Alsherif | Our panel investigates the dynamic workings of technology and power in the city from a transnational and comparative perspective as illustrated in Myria Georgiou’s book, Being Human in Digital Cities. They discuss the the contradictory claims and struggles for the future of digital cities and their humanity.

Contributor(s): Professor Cameron Hepburn, Professor Lord Stern | As part of the Lionel Robbins Lecture Series, the second lecture explores structural transformation; policies and institutions.

Contributor(s): Professor Scott Barrett | The ocean is governed by a combination of property rights, established in customary law, cooperative agreements, and under treaty law. Professor Scott Barrett looks at what these institutions have achieved and why.

Contributor(s): Cally Beaton | They discuss how comedy can both perpetuate and conceal sexism, while also having the profound ability to reveal and rise above bias and discrimination.

Contributor(s): Rachel Kyte, Professor Lord Stern | As part of the Lionel Robbins Lecture Series, our panel discuss the growth story for the 21st century: building sustainable, resilient, and equitable development.

Contributor(s): Professor Tali Sharot, Professor Cass R. Sunstein | The authors tackle a great question: why are we so often oblivious to things around us, from pollution and lying to bias and corruption?

Contributor(s): Professor Emily Shuckburgh, Professor Lord Stern | As part of the Lionel Robbins Lecture Series, our panel discussed the first theme on a world re-drawn; a world in crisis; a moment in history; the agenda for growth and transformation.

Contributor(s): Dr Tania Burchardt, Professor Neil Lee, Professor Mike Savage | Our panel of speakers will cover a range of topics, such as how we can improve the quality of employment, how to implement a levelling up agenda, and how we can tackle wealth inequality in the UK.

Contributor(s): Professor James Feigenbaum | In this talk, James Feigenbaum shows how the ability to link individuals over time, and between databases, means that new avenues for research have opened up, thus allowing us to track intergenerational mobility, assimilation, discrimination and the returns to education.

Contributor(s): Dr Jason Casellas, Dr Ursula Hackett, Mark Landler, Professor Stephanie Rickard | Jason Casellas is the John G. Winant Visiting Professor in American Government at the University of Oxford affiliated with Balliol College and the Rothermere American Institute.  Ursula Hackett is Reader in Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a British Academy Mid-Career Fellow.  Mark Landler is the London bureau chief of The New York Times. Stephanie J Rickard is Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the Department of Government.

Contributor(s): Marvin Rees OBE | What lessons are there about how to represent, lead and shape a city? How difficult is it to balance short-term priorities with long-term vision and strategy? And what does central government need to learn about public policy and city services from the sharp end? Join us as we host Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, to address this and more.

Contributor(s): Katie Schmuecker, Professor Mike Savage , Liam Byrne MP | Yet, it doesn’t have to be like this. In his new book The Inequality of Wealth: why it matters and how to fix it, former Treasury Minister, Liam Byrne, explains the fast-accelerating inequality of wealth; warns how it threatens our society, economy, and politics; shows where economics got it wrong – and lays out a path back to common sense, with five practical new ways to rebuild an old ideal: the wealth-owning democracy. Liam Byrne draws on conversations and debates with former prime ministers, presidents and policymakers around the world together with experts at the OECD, World Bank, and IMF to argue that, after twenty years of statistics and slogans, it's time for solutions that aren’t just radical but plausible and achievable as well.

Contributor(s): Sarah Appleton, Nikki Sullivan, Paul Frijters, Helen | Joanna Bale talks to Helen, who found Ozempic ‘life-changing’, Clinical Psychologist Sarah Appleton, and LSE’s Nikki Sullivan & Paul Frijters.

Contributor(s): Kostas Bakoyannis | It has become vital to draw from the local perspective when tackling global issue. The same is true for many organisations and communities, for whom traditional, top-down approaches do not offer the agility and responsiveness that is essential for effective crisis management in our times. Having served local government for 13 years, from a rural to an urban context and from a small town to a region and a big city, Kostas Bakoyannis shares his experience of bottom-up crisis management including the economic, refugee and COVID-19 crises.

Contributor(s): Dr Keyu Jin | Yet Western economists have long been incorrectly predicting its collapse. Why do they keep getting it wrong? Because, according to Keyu Jin, the Chinese economy that most Westerners picture is an incomplete sketch, based on Western dated assumptions and incomplete information. We need a new understanding of China, one that takes a holistic view of its history and its culture. Professor Jin presents The New China Playbook, a revelatory, clear-eyed, and myth-busting exploration of China’s economy, how it grew to be one of the largest in the world, and what the future may hold.

Contributor(s): Tooba Syed, Professor Judith Butler | What might feminist, queer and decolonial forms of resistance teach us about diverse forms of 'anti-gender' backlash? How can we generate political solidarity to counter 'anti-gender' mobilisations across different contexts? Our keynote speakers reflect on political, epistemic and ethical interventions and open up for discussion with the audience.

Contributor(s): Stefanos Kasselakis | In Greece, SYRIZA rose dramatically to lead the fight against euro-zone imposed austerity. Yet, it lost badly in two national elections last year and the left is fragmenting. How can the fortunes of the left be restored? What kind of unity is feasible and desirable on the left? How can the left avoid further defeat?

Contributor(s): Professor Richard Sennett | The Performer explores the relations between performing in art (particularly music), politics and everyday experience. It focuses on the bodily and physical dimensions of performing, rather than on words. Richard Sennett is particularly attuned to the ways in which the rituals of ordinary life are performances. The book draws on history and sociology, and more personally on the author's early career as a professional cellist, as well as on his later work as a city planner and social thinker. It traces the evolution of performing spaces in the city; the emergence of actors, musicians, and dancers as independent artists; the inequality between performer and spectator; the uneasy relations between artistic creation and social and religious ritual; the uses and abuses of acting by politicians. The Janus-faced art of performing is both destructive and civilizing.

Contributor(s): Lord Harrington, Professor Nigel Driffield, Professor Riccardo Crescenzi, Laura Citron | The recently published Harrington Review of Foreign Direct Investment offers a set of evidence-based and achievable recommendations for the UK to provide a tailored, responsive and comprehensive offer that meets foreign investors’ expectations and factors in the speed of the modern world. This panel discussion pushes the debate on FDI attraction and retention forward and consider how the Harrington Review’s recommendations can be put into practice and what impacts they will have. The panel discusses how best practices from around the world should inform new strategies to link FDI, Global Value Chains and sustainable and inclusive development in the UK and beyond.

Contributor(s): Professor Nello Cristianini | Instead, the prevailing form of machine intelligence is the direct result of a series of decisions that we have made over the past decades. These were shortcuts aimed at addressing various technical (and business) problems, and that are now behind many of the current concerns about the impact of this technology on society. A major shortcut was taken with the creation of the very first statistical language models, and we will describe how that step was the first move towards statistical AI, how it challenged previous assumptions, and how it reflected a new mindset that was starting to emerge among AI researchers. When business models, data availability and scientific paradigms became aligned, the current revolution started. Understanding how those technical shortcuts limit the options of regulators will be essential to safely co-exist with the present form of AI.

Contributor(s): Lord Bassam, Sheela Agarwal, Madeleine Bunting | England invented the seaside resort as a place of pleasure and these towns became iconic in the nation's sense of identity for over a century, but for over four decades the rise of package holidays and cheap flights have eroded their economies. This has resulted in a 'salt fringe' of deprivation, low pay, poor health and low educational achievement and the worst social mobility in the country. Despite persistent affection for many of these resorts which still attract millions of visitors, their chronic plight has failed to capture political engagement and investment. How can these resorts, with their wealth of cultural heritage, forge a new future?

Contributor(s): Professor Tania Murray Li | In Southeast Asia, 30 million more people live and work in rural areas today than they did in 1990. Yet rural people are largely absent from public and academic discourse, out of sight and out of mind. One reason for the neglect is the stubbornly persistent transition narrative which suggests that rural populations are anachronistic: they belong to the past, and sooner or later they will move to cities and join the march of progress. Hence it is not worth worrying too much about who they are or how they live, how national and global currents affect them, or how their aspirations and practices shape the course of history. The only question seems to be how to move them more quickly out of agriculture, into jobs, and off the land to free up more space for mining, corporate agriculture or conservation schemes. In this talk Tania Murray Li outlines the main powers and processes at work in transforming rural Southeast Asia and draw on her ethnographic research in Indonesia to illustrate how rural people navigate their ever-changing terrain.

Contributor(s): Christian Lindner | The German Finance Minister talks about new realities and strengthening Germany’s competitiveness for the benefit of its economy and its partners.

Contributor(s): Professor Mark R Beissinger, Professor Olga Onuch | In his new book, The Revolutionary City, Mark R. Beissinger provides a new understanding of how revolutions happen and what they might look like in the future. He is joined by Olga Onuch who will discuss the book.

Contributor(s): Dr Michael I Kanu, Philippe Carvalho Raposo, Lowri Mai Griffiths, Dr Robert Blasiak, Dr Siva Thambisetty | On 5 March 2023, state parties at the United Nations agreed the text of a new Treaty to cover biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, in areas also known as the high seas. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty sets out governance mechanisms for oceans over nearly half the planet’s surface covering marine genetic resources, environmental impact assessments, capacity building and technology transfer and Area Based Management Tools. It has the potential to transform the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity on the oceans beyond national jurisdiction and bring about greater sharing of the wealth of the oceans.

Contributor(s): Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed | Mainly the pervasive sub-national identities that dominated Arabia or the supra-national Islamic identity that the regime promoted to achieve legitimacy. But since the rise of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in 2017, a new populist Saudi nationalism is promoted. This lecture traces the shift in Saudi nation-building from the early days of religious nationalism to the current populist trend. It will explain why only recently constructing a Saudi nation became a priority for the leadership after almost a century of creating a state. The new Saudi national narrative inevitably involves selectively remembering and forgetting aspects of the past in order to consolidate a shift in national consciousness about who Saudis are. But while the new nationalism promises to invigorate the nation, the process is accompanied by serious violence against dissenting voices.

Contributor(s): Professor Lea Ypi, Martin Sandbu, Professor Ingrid Robeyns | What we need is a world without decamillionaires – people having more than ten million pounds. That is what the philosopher Ingrid Robeyns from the University of Utrecht argues in her new book, Limitarianism. The Case Against Extreme Wealth. Why would a world without anyone being superrich be better? Because extreme wealth undermines democracy; is incompatible with climate justice; and the money could be used much better elsewhere. Most fundamentally, no-one deserves to have so much money. But do these reasons stand up to scrutiny? Would preventing the accumulation of extreme wealth kill innovation, undermine our freedoms and opportunities to live the lives we lead, and in the end also harm the poor? Is limitarianism viable? Would it require us to abolish capitalism, and if so, what could replace it? And what, if anything, would it require from the overwhelming majority who do not have sizeable wealth? This event puts these ideas to the test in a lively debate with the author of Limitarianism in conversation with LSE's Lea Ypi and Martin Sandbu of the Financial Times.

Contributor(s): Professor Joseph Heath | Major unanswered questions involve the relationship between biological and sociocultural factors in promoting cooperativeness, as well as the vulnerability of human social systems to stagnation or collapse. We have amassed a great deal of theory regarding these questions, but our scientific knowledge remains fragmented. In recent years, however, a few pieces of the puzzle have begun to be fitted together. In this lecture Joseph Heath discusses two important advances: first, gene-culture coevolutionary theory, which has shed light on a number of fundamental questions about the early emergence of human sociality, and second, recent work on the development of hierarchy and the state, which has made it possible integrate fundamental sociological insights about how complex societies are maintained. He will attempt to show how these advances move us closer to having a unified scientific understanding of human sociality.

Contributor(s): Dr Brian Klaas | Brian Klaas explores how our world really works, driven by strange interactions and random events. How much difference does our decision to hit the snooze button make? Did one couple's vacation really change the course of the twentieth century? His new book, Fluke, is a provocative new vision of how our world really works - and why chance determines everything.

Contributor(s): Professor Sam Friedman | More than one in four people in the UK, from solidly middle-class backgrounds, mistakenly think of themselves as working-class. Why is this? In this episode of Extra iQ, a shorter style of the LSE iQ podcast, Sue Windebank speaks to Sam Friedman, a sociologist of class and inequality at LSE to find out more. Sam spoke to the podcast in November 2022 for an episode which asked, ‘How does class define us?’ The whole interview was fantastic but we couldn’t include it all in the original episode. This episode features some more of the thought-provoking content from that interview.   Contributors Sam Friedman   Research Deflecting Privilege: Class Identity and the Intergenerational Self by Sam Friedman, Dave O’Brien and Ian McDonald

Contributor(s): Professor Gargi Bhattacharyya | The framing of racial capitalism can become a way to freeze analysis - as if the same circuit of dispossession and violence continues across time and space and, with the desperate implication, for always. In this talk, Gargi Bhattacharyya considers the changing violences of racial capitalism and considers how can we use this language to identify emerging patterns of racialised dispossession, and what might we then do about it.

Contributor(s): Professor Ralph Hertwig | Nudging promises that minor adjustments in choice architecture can influence decisions without altering incentives. However, nudging has also been criticised, including objections to its soft paternalism and its neglect of agency, autonomy, and the longevity of behaviour change. In response to such criticisms— and the proliferation of highly engineered and manipulative, commercial choice architectures—other behavioural policy approaches have been proposed, focusing on empowering citizens to make well-informed decisions. Those approaches are based on a view of human cognitive and motivational capacities that goes beyond the deficit model underlying nudge. In the face of systemic problems such as climate change, pandemics, threats to liberal democracies, and rapid cycles of technological innovations, evidence-informed investments in a competent, informed, and active citizenry seem an essential—though not—sufficient policy approach. This talk outlines recent developments in conceptual and empirical research that aims to empower citizens by boosting their competences.

Contributor(s): Adam Vaughan, Dr James Painter, Fiona Harvey, Roger Harrabin | This event gathers journalists from various backgrounds to discuss the challenges they face in informing and promoting balanced public discussions about decarbonisation, particularly in the context of looming local and general elections. Media coverage of climate change has long centered on alerting the public about, as well as debating and contesting, the dangers of climate change. Today, history has moved on. The UK public understands this issue is real and urgent; by and large, Britons supports decarbonisation of the economy. Yet, decarbonisation is at once a grand political project – offering the possibility of revamping and redesigning the make-up of infrastructure, technological networks, and land-use, in ways that will increase well-being, health, and possibly the vitality of many local economies – but also a slow process, difficult to understand for the lay person, full of trade offs and uncertainties.

Contributor(s): Professor Manuel Pastor, T.O. Molefe | Traditional economics is built on the assumption of self-interested individuals seeking to maximize personal gain, but that is far from the whole story. Sharing, caring, and a desire to uphold the collective good are also powerful motives. In a world on fire – facing threats to multiracial democracy, tensions from rising economic inequality, and even the existential threat of climate change, can we build an alternative economics based on cooperation? In this lecture Manuel Pastor, joined by T.O. Molefe, will discuss his newest book Solidarity Economics: why mutuality and movements matter. He will introduce the concept of solidarity economics, which is rooted in the idea that equity is key to prosperity and social movements are crucial to the reconfiguration of power in our politics and show how we can use solidarity economics to build a fairer economy that can generate prosperity and preserve the planet.

Contributor(s): Alexander De Croo | Belgium will enter 2024 as the rotating chair of the European Union. As one of the founding fathers of the Union, Belgium presides over the EU for the 13th time. The number might sound unlucky and the challenges ahead are surely daunting. That said, Prime Minister De Croo will talk about the strengths of the Union, its relationship with the United Kingdom, and the ways in which the EU needs to reform to stay in shape.

Contributor(s): Professor Iván Werning | Previous inflationary episodes have taught us a lot on what causes inflation and what can be done to reduce it. But the world has changed and previous insights may no longer be valid. Iván Werning will discuss how old insights extended with new frameworks can be used to shed light on the recent surge in inflation.

Contributor(s): Dr Bisher Khasawneh | Bisher Khasawneh (@BisherKhasawneh) is Prime Minister of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Minister of Defence, positions he has held since October 2020. He held the position of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017 and Minister of State for Legal Affairs 2017-2018. He served as King Abdullah II’s Advisor for Communication and Coordination Affairs from April 2019 to August 17, 2020 and as the King’s Adviser for Policies in the Royal Hashemite Court until he became Prime Minister. He obtained a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Jordan, in addition to a master's degree in International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as a Doctorate in Law. David Kershaw is Dean of LSE Law School. He is also a member of the LSE Council, the Governing Body of LSE, and an Associate Tenant at Cornerstone Barristers. He is a former General Editor of the Modern Law Review. He joined LSE in 2006. Prior to joining LSE he was a Lecturer in Law at the University of Warwick between 2003-2006.

Contributor(s): Heather Kappes, David McDaid, Molly Taylor | According to the Office for National Statistics, 7.1 per cent of adults in Great Britain - nearly 4 million people - say they 'often or always' feel lonely. Look around you when you’re in a crowded place – a supermarket or an office - 1 in 14 of the people you’re looking at are likely to be lonely, not just sometimes but most of the time. And that’s half a million more people saying that they feel chronically lonely in 2023 than there were in 2020 – suggesting that the pandemic has had some enduring impacts in this respect. Sue Windebank talks to a young person who responded to her own deep feelings of loneliness by campaigning to help others. She hears how people can be influenced to feel more or less lonely – at least for a short time. And she got a surprising insight into which group of people are the loneliest. Sue talks to: Heather Kappes, Associate Professor of Management at LSE; David McDaid Associate Professorial Research Fellow in the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at LSE; and Molly Taylor, Loneliness Activist, Founder of #AloneNoMore.

Contributor(s): Professor Susan Parnell | Sue Parnell outlines why a new urban disposition, that breaks with geographies, disciplines, and ideologies might be helpful in building new communities of practice to advance a global urban agenda. Creating solutions to the complex problems of cities, like gender inequality, informality, climate resilience or disease prevention, necessitates global not just national and local analysis and intervention. Some progress has been made, for example in the SDGs and other multi-lateral agreements. But there remains a mismatch between the importance of the urban question and the global policy attention it demands. To be effective the global urban agenda must be informed by a broad range of evidence, scientific voices must be appropriately embedded to influence policy, and the urban agenda needs to have universal credibility.

Contributor(s): Lord Wolfson, Professor Paul Cheshire, Dame Kate Barker, Stephen Aldridge | It is 40 years since Paul Cheshire began to investigate the economic effects of our land use planning system and 20 years since Kate Barker published her first review of the impact of planning on housing supply. Their insights have helped us understand what can be done to ensure decent housing for all and boost productivity – but, after three failed attempts at significant planning reform - we are now in a time of economic stagnation and facing a housing affordability crisis that is only becoming more desperate as interest rates rise.

Contributor(s): Mia Amor Mottley, Esther Phillips, Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah | Ms Mottley was elected to the Parliament of Barbados in September 1994 as part of the new Barbados Labour Party Government. Prior to that, she served as one of two Opposition Senators between 1991 and 1994. One of the youngest persons ever to be assigned a ministerial portfolio, Ms. Mottley was appointed Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture from 1994 to 2001. She later served as Attorney General and Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados from 2001 to 2008 and was the first female to hold that position. Ms Mottley is an Attorney-at-law with a degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, specialising in advocacy. She is also a Barrister of the Bar of England and Wales. In 2002, she became a member of the Local Privy Council. She was also admitted to the Inner Bar, becoming the youngest ever Queens Counsel in Barbados.

Contributor(s): Professor Kimberly Hutchings | For the past twenty years the idea of human rights as an absolute and universal ethical standard has been subject to a barrage of criticism. Critiques have come from all philosophical and political directions, including communitarian, pragmatist, poststructuralist and decolonial. In this lecture, Kimberly Hutchings explores the critical landscape of human rights thinking today and how we might re-think the concept of human rights in ways that will sustain its power as an ethical discourse into the future.

Contributor(s): Dr Siva Thambisetty, Dr John Siddorn, Ishbel Matheson, Dr Joanna Post, Dr Darian McBain | The blue economy is estimated to be worth over US$1.5 trillion per year globally, providing over 30 million jobs and supplying protein to over three billion people. With new large-scale industrial activities, such as offshore renewable energy as well as the growing interest in ocean mining and marine biotechnology, the oceans have moved to the top of political and economic agendas. This event will bring together leading voices in the field for a discussion on the risks to the health of our oceans and the opportunities in the transition to a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient blue economy. The speakers speaks at first hand about key negotiations, such as the UN High Seas Treaty or the Biodiversity Conference COP15; scientific work in the ocean; the role of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in bringing hundreds of nations to one table; as well as the challenges, priorities, and opportunities to make the oceans and the blue economy an effective part of a sustainable future.

Contributor(s): Professor George Gerapetritis | Climate change, worldwide aggression, migration flows, food crisis and public health emergencies have core common characteristics: they destroy certainties, they produce extraterritorial effects, they are not dealt through deliberative mechanisms. In light of these, we need to revisit the current status and, perhaps, return to the basics. Enhancing democratic institutions and global principled governance, acknowledging the moral value of solidarity and the right to belonging and combating root causes of global challenges, mainly inequalities among people and states. A global alliance is needed towards this goal.

Contributor(s): Lord McFall | He advises caution on radical reform of the Upper House, arguing that incremental change to the process for nomination of peers would strengthen its role as a “forum for civil society” allowing the country to draw on expertise from outside politics.

Contributor(s): Professor Ann Oakley, Professor Chris Renwick, Professor Sally Sheard, Professor John Stewart | Richard Titmuss, the first chair in Social Administration at the London School of Economics and Political Science, died fifty years ago in 1973. From his appointment in 1950 until his death Titmuss established and defined the field of social policy. This event will discuss Titmuss’s critique of the ‘welfare state’, and how his insights have had to evolve in the light of the challenges to, and strategies for, social welfare which have come to predominate since his death. The event brings together authors of published and planned biographies of Richard Titmuss, Brian Abel-Smith, and Peter Townsend, alongside Titmuss’ daughter, renowned academic Ann Oakley.

Contributor(s): Professor Richard Pettigrew, Dr David Jarrett, Nicci Gerrard, Ruth Bright | Many of us will face this important question: over 850,000 people in the UK currently have dementia, and many more will be involved in their care. One of the great strengths of the LSE is its work in decision-theory – but how should we apply decision-theory to those with dementia? How can we figure out the preferences of a person who currently has dementia, whose desires may appear incoherent and ever-shifting? Should we focus on a person’s current desires – or rather on what they ‘would have wanted’ – or indeed what they did want for themselves before dementia took hold? And how should we make room for the needs of carers, and the wider community? To discuss these questions, we bring together a diverse collection of thinkers for a panel-style event, with discussion questions posed by the chair, and regular questions from the audience.

Contributor(s): Professor Mary S Morgan | While the conventional view is that ideas create policy change and economic change follows on - it is just not that simple. We can see what is involved by looking at major changes - such as the reconstruction of post-war economies, post-colonial economic development planning, or switching from capitalist to socialist systems. Designing such new kinds of worlds required new ways of thinking about how the economic world could work involving imagination and cognitive work, and new kinds of economic measurements and accounting systems to deliver that change.

Contributor(s): Professor Vimal Ranchhod, Faeza Meyer, Dr Eleni Karagiannaki, Dr Shabna Begum | Wealthy households able to draw on owner occupied housing assets, private pensions, savings and financial investments have prospered. Meanwhile the majority of the populations, even in rich nations – have been exposed to harsh ‘austerity’ policies, and often the need to balance debt obligations. There is increasing evidence that wealth assets play a significant role in allowing social mobility advantages to the children of wealthy households. However, it is not widely appreciated that these developments underscore the intensification of racial wealth divides. Although the historical study of the racialised elements of wealth inequality is widely known, with widely appreciated studies of slavery and imperialism, the contemporary racialisation of wealth inequality needs to be much better known. This event features original research reporting on their findings from the UK, South Africa, and elsewhere.

Contributor(s): Daffne Valdes Vargas, Sibila Sotomayor Van Rysseghem, Paula Cometa Stange | This is a timely event. 50 years after the Chilean coup that ushered forth a violent 17-year dictatorship and 5 years after Chile’s widespread democratic protests, known as the estallido social, they will discuss the importance of understanding history for the present and why feminist theory and resistance matters more than ever. They also speak about their book, Set Fear on Fire: the feminist call that set the Americas ablaze, published earlier this year. What role does art and performance have in politics and how does it shape activism around the world? What relevance does Chile’s history have for contemporary politics and society? How has the conceptualisation of human rights changed over time and what rights should we be concerned about safeguarding today?

Contributor(s): Professor Eric Schneider | Children with poor nutrition or who are exposed to high levels of chronic disease grow more slowly than healthy children. Thus, children’s growth is a sensitive metric of how population health has evolved over time. Eric begins by showing how child growth has changed around the world since the nineteenth century and linking changes in child growth to child stunting, children who are too short for their age relative to healthy standards, the most common indicator used to measure malnutrition in LMICs today. Then he discusses the key determinants of poor child growth drawing on historical research and contemporary findings related to the ‘Indian Enigma’, the puzzling fact that Indian children are shorter than sub-Saharan African children today despite India’s lead in many indicators of economic development. Finally, he will consider what lessons historical analysis of child malnutrition has for tackling child stunting today.

Contributor(s): Professor Catherine Boone, Professor Wendy Wolford | For over 100 years, plantations have served as the imagined ideal for agricultural production and labor management in Mozambique. This talk outlines the colonial roots of this desire for the always-elusive plantation and argue that it manifests in contemporary Mozambique in a variety of ways: the global market takes priority over local needs; agricultural researchers rely on external funding that is short-term, motivated by international interests and the search for new varieties rather than land management; and local residents long seen only as plantation labor are separated into ‘emerging’ and ‘poor’ farmers, with research aimed at the former and charity at the latter.

Contributor(s): Stephen Timms MP, Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch, Professor James Foster | In the context of a worldwide cost-of-living crisis and likely recession, policy attention will focus increasingly on poverty and employment. In the UK, as elsewhere, those workers employed in low-wage, unstable jobs with poor working conditions are likely to suffer disproportionately in this crisis, thus exacerbating existing inequalities.  It will further discuss the policy implications and applications of this research, especially in the context of potential future disruptions in the labour market such as technological changes, climate change, population ageing and migration. The event will present research from a British Academy Global Professorship on multidimensional quality of employment deprivation.

Contributor(s): Professor Leslie Willcocks, Dr Michael Muthukrishna, Lucy Bailey, Dr Grace Lordan | The job market is in constant flux; industries change or become obsolete and new technologies emerge and disrupt. Never before has this been more salient, with the recent progress of AI. In this public event the panel will explain just how AI is now and will continue to disrupt the labour market.

Contributor(s): Professor Paul Dolan | Paul Dolan introduces his new podcast series, Get Happier, which aims to help you improve your own happiness and the happiness of those around you, at home and at work, without too much effort.  This recording contains strong language.

Contributor(s): Rachel Reeves MP | In this event, Rachel delves into the untold stories of remarkable women who have historically been sidelined in the economic landscape. As both a woman and an economist, Rachel brings a unique perspective to the challenges faced by women in the field and the broader impact on society. She addresses the barriers these women encountered, highlighting the consequences for us all when their contributions were dismissed. This event is a call to action, inspiring us to work towards an economy that fosters productivity, sustains growth, and creates opportunities for everyone, irrespective of their background.

Contributor(s): Ros Taylor, Dr Abby Innes, Professor Gwyn Bevan | The post-war political settlement established by Clement Attlee’s government developed systems to tackle what William Beveridge identified as five giant evils of Britain in 1942: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Idleness, and Squalor. By 1979, these systems were failing. In the UK, from 1979, successive governments led by Margaret Thatcher aimed to tackle those failures in a neoliberal settlement based on rolling back the state and empowering markets. This strategy was based on two fundamental neoliberal ideas. First, the social responsibility of private enterprises is to maximise profits within rules of the game. Second, effective systems of governance can harness the attractions of market forces for services that violate the requirements for markets to be effective.

Contributor(s): Gemma Mortensen, Kirsty McNeill, David Robinson | How are we to live together? More than ever, the big questions that we face are all about relationships. Their substance and quality will determine the direction and quality of our lives. In his 2018 LSE public lecture David Robinson set out the case for building a better society by building better relationships. What happened next? David will tell the unfolding story of the Relationships Project, discuss new trends in our understanding of relationships, and put forward his practical vision of a place where 'meaningful relationships are the central operating principle' for social innovation.

Contributor(s): Professor Leslie Vinjamuri, Ann Pettifor, Professor Abraham L Newman, Professor Henry Farrell | The panel discusses debates around the weaponisation of the global economy with the sustainability of these tactics, how different major and emerging powers are reacting, and what role the UK has to play in both utilising and mitigating these tactics.

Contributor(s): Arun Blair-Mangat | To celebrate Black History Month, join us for this conversation between LSE alumnus Arun Blair-Mangat and LSE President Eric Neumayer.

Contributor(s): Faiza Shaheen, Duncan Green, Dr Jens Madsen | Experts will discuss how change isn't as straightforward as we'd like it to be – How it can be all in the timing and that, at times, you just need to wait for the right moment to make change happen. We’ll hear from an academic striving to become a Member of Parliament and make change from within the political system, rather than by lobbying from the outside. And an author and strategic advisor to Oxfam will explain how change is built around communities and groups of people rather than the individual. Mike Wilkerson talks to: Faiza Shaheen, an author and a Labour candidate running to become an MP; Dr. Jens Madsen an Assistant Professor at LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science; and Dr. Duncan Green a Professor in Practice and Senior Strategic advisor to Oxfam. Contributors Faiza Shaheen Duncan Green Jens Madsen   Research How change Happens: Duncan Green

Contributor(s): Dr SM Rodriguez, Dr Mame-Fatou Niang | In tandem with the theme of Black History Month, "Celebrating our Sisters, Saluting our Sisters, and Honouring Matriarchs of Movements", this panel discussion analyses the role of black women in social, cultural and political movements historically and in our times.

Contributor(s): Professor Martin Daunton | In his latest book, which forms the basis of this lecture, Martin Daunton pulls back the curtain on the institutions and individuals who have created and managed the economy over the last ninety years, revealing how and why one economic order breaks down and another is built.

Contributor(s): Dr Sara Camacho-Felix, Professor Kehinde Andrews | An all-encompassing, insightful and wry look at living in a racist world, by a leading black British voice in the academy and in the media. Take a step through the looking-glass to a strange land, one where Piers Morgan is a voice worth listening to about race, where white people buy self-help books to cope with their whiteness, where Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are seen by the majority of the population as 'the right (white) man for the job'. Perhaps you know it. All the inhabitants seem to be afflicted by serious delusions, like that racism doesn't exist and if it does it can be cured with a one-hour inclusion seminar, and bizarre collective hallucinations, like the widely held idea that Britain's only role in slavery was to abolish it. But there is a serious side too. Black and brown people suffer from a greater number of mental health difficulties, caused in no small part by living in a racist society. Society cannot face up to the racism at its heart and in its history, so the delusions and hallucinations it conjures up to avoid doing so can only best be described as a psychosis, and the costs are being borne by the sons and daughters of that racist history.

Contributor(s): Paul Nowak | The protracted cost of living crisis has seen a resurgence of industrial action across almost every sector of the British economy. To discuss the political implications of this renewed activism in the labour movement, we are joined by Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress.

Contributor(s): Professor Jason Sharman, Oliver Bullough, Thomas Anthony, Dr Kristin Surak | Drawing on fieldwork in sixteen countries, Kristin Surak exposes the world of the wealthy elites who buy passports, the states and brokers who sell them, and the normalisation of a once shadowy practice. It’s a business that thrives on uncertainty and imbalances of power between big, globalised economies and tiny states desperate for investment. In between are fascinating stories of buyers, brokers, and sellers, all ready to profit from the citizenship trade. Joining Kristin will be three experts who offer different angles into this world. Thomas Anthony, CEO of Citizenship Investment Unit of the country of Grenada, brings a Caribbean perspective on the programs. Oliver Bullough, author and journalist, has examined issues around financial crimes. Jason Sharman of Cambridge University will share his extensive knowledge of the political economy of offshore.

Contributor(s): Dr Jennifer Wynter, Professor Christine Whitehead, Dr Maria-Christina Vogkli, Pam Orchard, Manny Hothi | London accounts for around 60% of all households in temporary accommodation in England and over a quarter of those who are sleeping rough. Households also stay in temporary accommodation for much longer. In this debate we will be looking at the reasons why the situation has worsened; the consequences for individuals facing homelessness; the consequences for London’s local authorities; and the impact of proposed policy changes.

Contributor(s): | Climate change raises new, foundational challenges in science. It requires us to question what we know and how we know it. The subject is important for society but the science is young and history tells us that scientists can get things wrong before they get them right. How, then, can we judge what information is reliable and what is open to question? During the event the essential characteristics of climate change which make it a difficult issue to study will be highlighted. A series of challenges in the study of climate change across multiple disciplines will be presented and the audience will be taken on a journey through the maths of complexity, the physics of climate, philosophical questions regarding the origins and robustness of knowledge, and the use of natural science in the economics and policy of climate change.

Contributor(s): Professor Danny Dorling | Britain was once the leading economy in Europe; it is now the most unequal. Fifty years ago the UK led the world in child health; today, twenty-two of the twenty-seven EU countries have better mortality rates for newborns. No other European country has such miserly unemployment benefits; university fees so high; housing so unaffordable; or a government economically so far to the right.

Contributor(s): Professor Christian Leuz | Publicity and transparency are frequently proposed as solutions to societal and environmental problems; after all, sunlight is famously said to be the best of disinfectants. Such regimes have become common place for consumer protection, food safety, healthcare, campaign contributions, conflicts of interest, and more. They are viewed as less intrusive and more benign than directly regulating corporate activities. But do they work? Or are transparency regimes simply politically more expedient? These questions are very relevant in the context of sustainability as many countries are requiring firms to provide reports on their impacts on the environment and society more broadly. We will therefore ask what transparency can do when it comes to widespread environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions. Can disclosure mandate help clean up the environment? What are the limitations of transparency and why it is not always the best solution?

Contributor(s): Mikhail Khodorkovsky | The book is Khodorkovsky's account of what is happening in Russia today and what could happen in the future. Putin will not last forever: sooner or later, there will be a post-Putin era. But Russia's history has been deeply shaped by an autocratic trap: a revolution against an autocracy has produced another autocracy, followed by another revolution and another autocracy, and so on. If Russia is to find its place as a constructive partner in a global community of civilised nations, then it has to escape this vicious cycle. His book is Khodorkovsky's account of his own journey and of how the vicious cycle of Russian history can be broken. He charts a pathway towards a parliamentary federal republic which would enable Russia to become a free and democratic society, living in peace and without dragons.

Contributor(s): Professor Tomila Lankina, Dr Eleanor Knott, Professor Robert Falkner, Professor Chris Alden | Few predicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Even fewer thought it would still be going on 18 months later. There is though almost complete agreement that what began as a regional conflict has changed the world forever.

Contributor(s): Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Sir Isaac Julien | Henry Louis Gates, Jr in conversation with Isaac Julien and LSE's Imaobong Umoren.

Contributor(s): Professor Yascha Mounk | He terms this as the "identity synthesis" which seeks to put each citizen's matrix of identities at the heart of social, cultural and political life. This, he argues, is "the identity trap". Mounk traces the intellectual origin of these ideas and their use as politica, social and cultural capital over the decades. He makes a nuanced case on why their application to areas from education to public policy is proving to be deeply counterproductive. He argues for universalism and humanism, and posits that the proponents of identitarian ideas will, though they may be full of good intentions, make it harder to achieve progress towards genuine equality.

Contributor(s): Professor Nina Lvovna Khrushcheva | With the war in Ukraine well into its second year, we are joined by Nina Khrushcheva to discuss the fault lines that the war has opened up in Russian society - and the potential of the Russia left to use these fractures to push for a more progressive Russia.

Contributor(s): Professor Mike Wilkinson, Professor Helen Thompson, Hans Kundnani, Professor Gurminder K Bhambra | The European Union is often seen as a cosmopolitan rejection of violent nationalism. Yet the idea of Europe has a long, problematic history—in medieval times, it was synonymous with Christianity; in the modern era, it became associated with ‘whiteness’. Eurowhiteness exposes the EU as a vehicle for imperial amnesia. Narratives of European integration emphasise the lessons of war and the Holocaust, but not the lessons of colonial history. The EU is about power as much as peace—and civic ideas of Europe are being displaced by ethnic and cultural ones. Since the 2015 refugee crisis, whiteness has become even more central to European identity—a troubling new turn in Europe’s long civilisational project. It is time to confront the relationship between ideas of Europe and ideas of race.

Contributor(s): Matthew Syed, Dr Michael Muthukrishna | Playing on the phrase “a theory of everything” from physics, Michael Muthukrishna discusses his ambitious, original, and deeply hopeful book A Theory of Everyone, which draws on the most recent research from across the sciences, humanities, and the emerging field of cultural evolution to paint a panoramic picture of who we are and what exactly makes human beings different from all other forms of life on the planet.

Contributor(s): Ryan Centner, James, Jamal | Homosexuality is illegal in just over a third of countries across the globe. Some nations, like Barbados, have recently repealed anti-gay laws, but others, like Uganda, have just introduced the death penalty. Joanna Bale talks to LSE’s Dr Ryan Centner about how Western gay men living in Dubai create covert communities where they can meet and socialise. James, a British gay man, and Jamal, an Emirati gay man, also share their very different experiences of life in the city. Research links: Peril, privilege, and queer comforts: the nocturnal performative geographies of expatriate gay men in Dubai http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/110762/ The Pink Line: The World’s Queer Frontiers https://www.markgevisser.com/the-pink-line

Contributor(s): Professor Fabio Sánchez, Professor Sarmistha Pal, Professor Jean-Paul Faguet | This new book brings together a new generation of political economy studies, blending theoretical insights with empirical innovation, including broad cross-country data as well as detailed studies of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya and Colombia. The authors investigate the pros and cons of decentralisation in both democratic and autocratic regimes, and the effects of critical factors such as advances in technology, citizen-based data systems, political entrepreneurship in ethnically diverse societies, and reforms aimed at improving transparency and monitoring.

Contributor(s): Professor Michael Greenstone, Professor Namrata Kala, Omar Masud, Liu Xin | This event raises the profile of this important determinant of human well-being and explore innovative ways to reduce it. To do this we will pair prominent academics and policy makers working on the frontline of the war on air pollution to help map a path forward for the world.

Contributor(s): Heather Boushey, Ed Miliband MP, Dr Arkebe Oqubay, Dr Anna Valero | The transition to a net zero economy requires a new industrial revolution. How should the UK and other countries craft effective policies to generate such radical change? What will be the effect of the Biden administration’s green subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act on the US, Europe and the rest of the world?

Contributor(s): Professor Oriana Bandiera, Chipokota Mwanawasa, Asif Saleh, Ali Sarfraz | The conversation will centre around the pressing needs of adaptation and social protection, both integral for survival and resilience in these regions. The speakers will discuss the need for research and innovative strategies promoting sustainable livelihoods and diversification of jobs, highlighting policy interventions that fortify the most vulnerable against escalating climate shocks.

Contributor(s): Professor David Sumpter | What is the best way to think about the world? How often do we consider how our own thinking might impact the way we approach our daily decisions? Could it help or hinder our relationships, our careers, or even our health? Acclaimed mathematician David Sumpter shows how we can deal with the chaos and complexity of our lives with four easily applied approaches to our problems: statistical, interactive, chaotic and complex. Combining engaging personal experience with practical advice and inspiring tales of ground-breaking scientific pioneers (with a tiny bit of number crunching along the way), Sumpter explains how these tried and tested methods can help us with every conundrum, from how to bicker less with our partners to pitching to a tough crowd - and in doing so change our lives.

Contributor(s): Alison McGovern MP, Professor Henrik J Kleven, Professor Linda Scott | In this event, expert and best-selling author Linda Scott, in a conversation with academic and political leaders, discusses how the unequal division of the burden of parenthood fuels women’s systematic exclusion from economic participation.

Contributor(s): Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides, Professor Charlie Beckett, Dr Giulia Gentile | We’ll hear about the introduction of Artificial Intelligence in the courtroom, and what might happen if robots take over the roles of judges. Experts will explore how journalism and other professional fields could be affected by the AI revolution. They will discuss what individuals can do to prepare, and the role of governments and businesses in addressing practical and ethical concerns about the technology. Maayan Arad talks to: Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides, LSE professor of economics and Nobel Prize winner; Professor Charlie Beckett, LSE media professor and director of Polis, LSE’s journalism think-tank; and Dr Giulia Gentile, Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex Law School and former a Fellow at LSE Law School.   Contributors Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides Professor Charlie Beckett Dr Giulia Gentile Chat GPT Research LawGPT? How AI is Reshaping the Legal Profession by Giulia Gentile The digitisation of justice risks blurring the lines between public and private actors by Giulia Gentile AI in the courtroom and judicial independence: An EU perspective by Giulia Gentile Forthcoming report by JournalismAI – a project of Polis, the LSE’s journalism think-thank. The Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing The Institute for the Future of Work

Contributor(s): Professor Michael Wooldridge, Dr Giulia Gentile, Dr Thomas Ferretti, Dr Christine Chow | The sudden rise of ChatGPT has confirmed that artificial intelligence is no longer a technology of the future, but is already shaping our everyday lives – from work and education to policing, transport and even sport.

Contributor(s): Tomiwa Owolade | Debate abounds around racism, identity, diversity, immigration and colonial history, and, in the rush to address injustice, Britain has followed the lead of the world's dominant power: America. We judge ourselves by America's standards, absorb its arguments and follow its agenda. But what if we're looking in the wrong place?In This is Not America, Tomiwa Owolade argues that too much of the conversation around race in Britain is viewed through the prism of American ideas that don't reflect the history, challenges and achievements of increasingly diverse black populations at home. If we want to build a long-lasting and more effective anti-racist agenda - one that truly values black British communities - we must acknowledge that crucial differences exist between Britain and America; that we are talking about distinct communities and cultures, distinguished by language, history, class, religion and national origin.

Contributor(s): James Ball | The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World, takes us into the depths of the internet to trace the origins and rapid ascent of QAnon – the world's first digital pandemic – and how we can build immunity. Imagine a deadly pathogen that, once created, could infect any person in any part of the globe within seconds. No need to wait for travellers, trains, or air traffic to spread it, all you need is an internet connection. In his new book, James Ball decodes the cryptic language of the online right and with a surgeon's precision tracks the spread of QAnon, the world's first digital pandemic. QAnon began in 2017 as an internet community dedicated to supporting President Trump and intent on outing a global cabal of human traffickers. What started as a macabre game of virtual make believe quickly spiralled into the spread of virulently hateful, dangerous messaging – which turned into tragic, violent actions. From a standoff at the Hoover Dam, to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021, to protesting COVID-19 lockdowns, this digital pandemic has spread globally and shows no signs of stopping.

Contributor(s): Dr Joana Setzer, Catherine Higham, Dr Maria Antonia Tigre, Professor Lauge Poulson, Dr Birsha Ohdedar, Sophie Marjanac, Laura Ford | This influential report presents an overview of climate litigation, highlighting recent developments and future trends. The report is widely read and cited by civil society organisations, policymakers, the legal community, judges, financiers, scholars and media all around the world. Over the past year, the climate litigation field has seen novel case strategies deployed against a broad array of government and corporate actors. Notable examples in the private sector include a world-first case brought against Shell's Board of Directors, as well as against a commercial bank. Three new cases have also been brought against Russia, Finland and Sweden, to challenge the inadequacy of their national climate plans more Increasingly a broad range of actors is compelled to understand how the litigation landscape is evolving and what risks litigation poses to their activities in the public and private spheres. The event is chaired by the Grantham Research Institute’s Director, Elizabeth Robinson, and will begin with a short presentation from authors Joana Setzer and Catherine Higham on the findings of the 2023 Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation report. The presentation is followed by a panel discussion, with five distinguished experts in the field. Panellists react to the report and draw out key aspects from their own experience in the field.